Latest blogs on procurement law

New feeds on an almost daily basis, contain yet further stories of how levels of GP involvement in CCGs has dropped, with less than 22% of CCGs now having a GP as an accountable officer.

The authorisation dates for CCGs have been pushed back a month by the NHS CB. The Board has extended its original deadlines to allow for an extra period of dialogue between itself and the commissioning groups in the four separate waves of authorisation.

An opposition amendment in the House of Lords to the government's proposals for regulations on the mandatory composition of CCG boards to exclude local councillors and nurses and doctors who work for local providers looks set to fail, since Liberal Democrat peers have U-turned on their promise to back the amendment, Health Service Journal reports.

The NHS CBA's draft "Framework for Collaborative Commissioning between Clinical Commissioning Groups" (new framework) acknowledged that CCGs will not be able to operate in isolation and will often have to work collaboratively both with other CCGs and with other organisations to ensure quality access and outcomes requirements are met.

In the new commissioning landscape maintaining effective IG remains vitally important. At the same time it is essential that information is shared when it is needed to provide care.

he NHSCB and NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) have agreed that the NHS BSA will provide an employment partnership service for CSU staff during the hosting period up to 2016. 

Earlier this year the NHS CB produced a model constitution for CCGs and this has now been updated - the changes to the model constitution are largely confined to the guidance notes embedded in the document which have been updated to reflect the NHS (CCGs) Regulations 2012.

Monitor has launched a consultation examining circumstances in which objections to pricing proposals could merit reconsideration and also the threshold at which the healthcare regulator will then be required to act.

On 28 September 2012, the High Court ruled that, as the issues raised in public procurement disputes are concerned with manifest error or unfairness, expert evidence will not generally be admissible or relevant.